Such knowledge can best be acquired by an historical survey, one which will trace the development of the Japa nese people and civilization from their beginnings, and in the light of this development endeavor to make clear the present ambitions and problems of the nation. The Japan of to-day is the product of centuries of growth. The advent of Western civilization sixty years ago did not cause a com plete break with the past. It has modified profoundly the inheritance bequeathed by that past, but the old Japan must be studied if the new is to be understood.